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The Black Stone of Angkor: Sandstone Quarries and the Fall of an Empire
Season 1 Episode 38
Angkor's temples are among the largest stone structures ever built. But where did the stone come from, and what happened when the quarries ran dry? T…
2 months, 4 weeks ago
Angkor's Metal Crisis: The Copper That Built an Empire
Season 1 Episode 37
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a rarely discussed driver of Angkor's collapse: a catastrophic shortage of copper and tin. Without these meta…
2 months, 4 weeks ago
The Forgotten Capital: Angkor Before the Temples at Koh Ker
Season 1 Episode 36
This episode digs into Koh Ker, the brief but explosive capital of the Khmer Empire under Jayavarman IV in the 10th century. While most Angkor storie…
2 months, 4 weeks ago
Angkor's Final Collapse: The Climate-Economy Death Spiral
Season 1 Episode 35
In this episode of The Khmer Empire's Sudden Collapse Explained, we explore the final decades of Angkor through a lens we haven't used before: the ec…
2 months, 4 weeks ago
The Leper King's Curse: Disease and Fall of Angkor
Season 1 Episode 34
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the mysterious Leper King statue at Angkor Thom and the theory that a real disease—possibly leprosy or elepha…
3 months ago
The Theravada Conversion That Redefined Khmer Identity
Season 1 Episode 33
When the Khmer Empire's official religion shifted from Mahayana Buddhism to Theravada Buddhism, it wasn't just a change in belief—it rewired the enti…
3 months ago
The Theravada Conversion That Killed Angkor's Devaraja
Season 1 Episode 32
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Khmer Empire underwent a profound religious transformation that shattered its political foundations. This episode…
3 months ago
The Cham Invasion That Shattered Angkor
Season 1 Episode 31
In 1177, a Cham fleet sailed up the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, caught the Khmer off guard, and sacked Angkor. This episode focuses on the invasion …
3 months ago
The Ayutthayan Siege That Ended Angkor
Season 1 Episode 30
In 1431, the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya launched a final, devastating siege against Angkor. This episode chronicles the fall of the Khmer capital, …
3 months ago
The Theravada Conversion That Killed Angkor
Season 1 Episode 29
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the mass conversion of the Khmer Empire to Theravada Buddhism in the 13th and 14th centuries may have bee…
3 months ago